Ask Vicki: How should I prepare for a job interview?

In this answer on Quora, Monster Career Expert Vicki Salemi gives you the tips you need to ace your job interview.

Vicki Salemi, Monster career expert

Vicki Salemi

Each week, Monster’s career expert Vicki Salemi—a former recruiter who utilizes 15-plus years of experience in recruiting and human resources to empower job seekers—answers user questions on Quora. We’ll be republishing the answers here. If you have a question for Vicki, send it to socialmedia@monster.com.

Q. How should I prepare for a job interview?

A. There are several ways to ace a job interview. Research the company inside and out. Fully grasp the job description in terms of the roles and responsibilities, skills, experiences and qualifications they’re looking to fill. Create questions ahead of time so you can ask them during the interview itself.

Know your own talking points and how to position them. This means not only boning up on your familiarity with the company and its place in the industry, but knowing your own game plan as well. Conduct mock interviews with a friend, career coach or mentor and get accustomed to speaking articulately about your accomplishments. This means that even when you’re not explicitly asked about your accomplishments, you should find a way to insert them into your answers.

Remain calm and confident. Dress to impress from head to toe, be polite and friendly and let those soft skills shine—in other words, project your ability to get along with people and be well-liked.

When interviewers debrief each other at the end of the day to discuss how all of their interviews went, they’re looking to evaluate you on your skills and experiences and how they size up to the job they’re looking to fill. However, they’re also looking for the “it” factor—that special something that only you bring to the table in terms of your friendliness, team player mentality and positive presence.